Giant Maine tree may set record

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Merle Ring (left) and Michele Windsor measured various parts of the 95-foot-tall American chestnut in Hebron, Maine. The tree is believed to be the tallest chestnut in the East.

By Clarke CanfieldAssociated Press
November 23, 2012

HEBRON, Maine — A Maine forester has measured what is believed to be the tallest American chestnut tree in its native range.

The 95-foot tree is located in woodlands in this small town in southwestern Maine. There is no official record keeping, but officials with the American Chestnut Foundation say the Maine tree is thought to be the tallest from Maine to Mississippi.

Ann Siekman said she and her husband knew they had a tall chestnut on their property, but they had no idea it would be the tallest in the East.

‘‘I personally am a tree lover, so it’s very important to me that all of us be aware of our tree heritage,’’ she said. ‘‘For that reason, I’m delighted it’s getting some attention.’’

Once known as the redwood of the East, the American chestnut was one of the most dominant trees in the Eastern United States, routinely growing as tall as 100 feet and measuring 5 feet across at the base. But a blight overtook the trees during the first half of the 1900s, wiping out the population by the 1950s.

The American Chestnut Foundation, an Asheville, N.C.-based conservation organization devoted to restoring chestnuts to Eastern woodlands, has regional offices that keep unofficial tabs on the trees. The Maine chestnut is the tallest that anybody with the foundation is aware of.

‘‘Most of the bigger chestnuts we come across tend to top out around 70, 75, and maybe 80 feet,’’ said Kendra Gurney, the foundation’s regional science coordinator in Burlington, Vt.

Chestnuts tend to grow tallest when they are crowded among other large trees and need to grow straight up in search of sun. Maine, the nation’s most heavily forested state, has plenty of oaks that grow higher than 100 feet and pines that can reach 150 feet.

The chestnut in Hebron is hidden from public view in backwoods among oaks, beeches, and maples. Although people have known about it for years, it was not officially measured until this fall when Merle Ring, a Maine Forest Service forester, took its dimensions as part of a countywide big tree contest put on by the Oxford County Soil & Water Conservation District.